WAIMĀNALO HOMELESS SHELTER GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE

News Release from BLNR, Oct 11, 2024

(HONOLULU) – Today, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) agreed to set aside nearly 11 acres of DLNR land in Waimānalo for a kauhale housing project.

A community homeless shelter known as Hui Mahi‘ai ‘Āina has been operating at the site since 2020 without BLNR approval. However, the DLNR expressed a willingness to have nonprofit entities engage in helping occupants obtain proper authorization to be on the land.

The department’s primary concern was that the current collection of small single-, double- and family shelters lie in a flood zone. After a topographical study, discussions with Aunty Blanche McMillan who currently provides housing for 80 people, the aio Foundation which will build out the new location, as well as state and county authorities, it was determined that another portion of the same property is elevated enough to allow for the residential development and the remainder of the property would be used for agricultural uses to support the community village.

“The department is in full support of this project. Under the collaboration with aio Foundation, DLNR was reassured that our concerns were addressed. More importantly, when I visited Aunty Blanche’s Hui Mahi‘ai ‘Āina in Waimānalo, I was moved by the sense of community the residents felt for each other, for the place and for themselves,” stated DLNR Chair Dawn Chang.

With the set-aside, the Statewide Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions (SOHHS), along with the nonprofit aio Foundation is planning to build a community village for homeless individuals off ʻOluʻolu and Hilu Streets.

The proposed project will have 32 single units, 18 double rooms, six family units, and two units for cancer patients. The 58 units will have shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, a laundry room, and classrooms.

In its BLNR submittal, the DLNR Land Division noted, “aio Foundation has experience in this type of development involving public and private partnership with its development and operation of Kahauiki Village near the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. It is a 144-unit community, housing nearly 700 adults and children.

That property is under a set-aside to the City and County of Honolulu, which in turn issues a lease to the aio Foundation. The same approach is planned for the Waimānalo parcel in which the aio Foundation plans to obtain a lease from SOHSS. The BLNR will have to consent to the lease at a future meeting when more specific terms and conditions are available.

Chapter 343 Environmental Assessment of the project was suspended by a Governor’s Proclamation, dated Jan. 23, 2023, to the extent necessary to expedite the provision of housing for homeless persons.

Aunty Blanche, as she is affectionately known as by the dozens of people she’s helped over the past five years, is excited about the future. The land which currently has structures will be fully converted to food production for the community. She expects construction of new tiny homes on the parcel approved by the BLNR will take about a year.

“Sharing and how to give back and how to love our people,” she said, is the most important thing. “Taking care of the houseless, our kūpuna, and even sick folks with stage 4 cancer is my style. I love it and I love teaching other people how to care. I believe that everything is going to fall in place,” McMillen added.

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RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

HD video – Waimānalo homeless shelter site and SOTs (Oct. 10, 2024)

(Shot sheet/transcription attached)

Photographs – Waimānalo homeless shelter site (Oct. 10, 2024)

KHON: Waimanalo Homeless Shelter receives new lease on life | KHON2